Mr Crepsley's Cure
by The Hand of Omega
Summary: Darren gets sick, and Mr. Crepsley has to play nurse.
1. Chapter 1

Mr. Crepsley hated heat. It was always stifling and uncomfortable, especially with his taste in clothing. If Seba had taught him anything, it was to always dress fashionably.

Loosening his collar, Crepsley looked around at the Cirque. Due to his nightly curse, there was no one to really talk to when he was up in the middle of the night and there was no show planned. Hibernius was the only one, but he was away on business. Then there was Darren, but he was still used to his "day schedule".

Crepsley could not blame him. Though their relationship had improved drastically, the young boy preferred to be around Evra. The two were so close, they were almost brothers. Well, brothers that never wanted to kill each other.

Crepsley sat on a log and started poking at the dying fire. His stomach suddenly gargled. Standing back up again, he began to walk towards Darren and Evra's tent to find food.

He was almost at the opening flap when Evra rushed through it and ran into him. They collided, sending the snake boy to the ground. Looking up, and seeing who he hit, Evra started to shiver.

"S-s-s-sorry Mr. Crepsley," he stuttered.

The vampire shook his head. "Accidents happen Evra. Why were you in such a hurry?"

Evra pointed at the inside of the tent.

"It's Darren. I think he's sick."

Crepsley frowned and walked into the tent. A flashlight on the ground provided the only light, illuminating the far wall. Darren lay in his hammock on his stomach, his face buried in the cloth.

"Darren?" Mr. Crepsley asked, walking over to his assistant. The only reply was a grunt. Crepsley grabbed him and gently flipped him over.

"Evra! Cut out the lights!" Darren shouted, pushing his face back into the hammock. Mr. Crepsley raised his eyebrow and flipped him over again sharply.

"What the crap, Evra…" Darren's opened eyes widened.

"Sorry Mr. Crepsley," he mumbled. Crepsley, instead of answering, felt Darren's forehead. Sure enough, it was burning.

"I think you have a fever Darren."

His apprentice nodded and started to shiver. "But I feel so cold," he moaned.

Crepsley pulled a thick blanket from a pile in the corner and tucked Darren in with it. Clutching it like a baby, the apprentice looked into his mentor's eyes.

"I think I'm OK now Mr. Crepsley."

Crepsley raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? I can stay if you…"

That's when Darren vomited all over Mr. Crepsley.


	2. Chapter 2

**I tried not to get too descriptive at the end, so I'm sorry if the end of this chapter makes any of you queasy. **

Though the entire camp was awoken by the very loud, and very rude, curse from Mr. Crepsley, only Truska was helping him with Darren. She let Evra sleep in her trailer so he didn't catch whatever Darren had.

After vomiting, Darren had lapsed into fits of coughing. Truska, through her signs and gestures, let Mr. Crepsley know that his apprentice had the flu. _The flu! _The vampire thought. _Ridiculous! _

When Truska went to get some wet towels, Mr. Crepsley leaned in towards Darren.

"Darren, let me see your tongue."

Looking at his mentor oddly, the half-vampire obediently opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue. The normally pink surface was covered in black specks.

"Charna's guts," Mr. Crepsley mumbled.

"Wha…" Darren was interrupted by a cough. "What's wrong?"

"It is a rare symptom among half-vampires," Mr. Crepsley explained. "It is when the flu or cold virus is mutated by your vampiric blood… making it ten times worse."

Darren groaned. "I feel awful," he complained.

Crepsley nodded. "You will be like this for awhile. Just drink a large amount of water and blood, and eventually it will die out."

The young assistant shifted on his side. "Are there any more symptoms?" he asked.

Crepsley's eyebrows closed in thought. "Well, there is diaherra…" Darren suddenly jumped up and ran out of the tent.

Crepsley was about to follow, until he noticed that his assistant was running towards the outhouse. Sighing, the vampire looked at the ground.

_The boy shouldn't be having this sickness so early on. And after this he will need food…_

Crepsley's head shot up. He gave a small smile, mainly to himself, and took off for the kitchen tent.

**Later **

Darren trudged back into his tent, groaning all the way. His stomach grumbled threateningly. He slowly pulled himself into his hammock, gasping as his insides lurched. Lying down, he stared at the tent's top cover. The designs sewn into the fabric made him dizzy.

_Why is this happening to me, _he thought. _Does my life really suck this much?_

As if in an answer, Mr. Crepsley burst into the tent, carrying a large bowl. A sickening smell clashed with Darren's nose.

"What is that?" Darren groaned. His mentor looked into the bowl.

"A recipe my master taught me to make for a moment like this," he replied.

Darren sat up, took the bowl and looked at its contents. The broth was a sickening black color, with green chunks floating around in it. He looked away, afraid the sight might make him vomit again.

"What's in it?" he asked.

Mr. Crepsley frowned. "I think that can wait until after you eat it," he replied. Darren could tell by the vampire's tone that the ingredients wouldn't settle well in his mind.

Closing his eyes, Darren slowly slurped a spoonful. The gunk was surprisingly bland, with almost no taste at all except for salt. It was warm and frothy, and seemed to slither down his throat.

Darren opened an eyelid, surprised that nothing happened.

"That wasn't bad…"

Mr. Crepsley suddenly grabbed the bowl and jumped away from the hammock. Darren stared at his mentor.

"Why did you…"

Then his stomach erupted.

He fell to the ground, spewing the contents of his stomach all over the grass. The smell was awful. This seemed to take hours.

Finally, he looked to his mentor, tears streaming down his face.

"What the hell was that?" he cried.

Mr. Crepsley raised an eyebrow. "That shows that it is working. Finish the rest and you will feel better in the morning."


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Darren awoke fairly early. His stomach had now started to cramp up, and his head was throbbing. The crap Mr. Crepsley had given him hadn't worked very well.

Until his tent could be fumigated, Darren had to sleep in Mr. Crepsley's trailer. He had been excused from all his chores, and from any of the performances until he was better. At the moment, he was wrapped up in a blanket like a cocoon and in a fetal position in his mentor's coffin.

A soft knock echoed through the room. Darren groaned and turned over to face the door.

"Come in."

The door opened and Evra stepped in, holding a sheet of paper and a pen.

"Hey, how's our patient doing today?" Evra asked playfully.

"I'm a little better," Darren answered. "But my head's started to hurt."

Evra's warm smile faltered a little. "I'm sorry you're sick," he said.

Darren closed his eyes. "Not your fault."

Evra looked at the ground, his tone becoming sadder. "But I'm the one who pushed you in the water. And it was cold…"

"Evra, that was weeks ago."

The snake boy sighed and pulled up a chair beside the coffin. Normally, Darren hated coffins, but he couldn't care less now. Evra put the paper on his lap and took the pen cap off.

"So, I've been thinking about organizing something to annoy Mr. C with. Maybe something with…"

"Evra, do we have to talk about this now?"

Evra's face fell, and he shook his head solemnly. "Not if you don't want to," he said glumly.

Darren saw he had hurt his friend's feelings. "I'm sorry. I'm just in a really bad

mood."

Nodding, Evra stood up. "Do you want me to leave?" he asked, failing to keep the sadness from his voice.

Darren thought it was probably better, but he didn't want his friend to feel useless.

"No, you can stay. You can tell me that story about… who was it? The person with only one eye?"

"Oh, um… Cyrus Cyclops?"

"Yeah."

Evra grinned with the memory. "He was an odd case. Every day he would…"

Darren listened, giving a few occasional laughs. His stomach cramps suddenly stopped, and soon he felt ten times better. Perhaps Mr. Crepsley's cure worked after all. Soon they were discussing their plans to give further annoyance to the vampire, at least until Darren fell asleep again.


End file.
